Dom, the mobile virtual assistant for the Domino’s Pizza app, has been promoted from beta to a full-time employee. We captured the moment when individuals on the streets of San Francisco met Dom for the first time. You’ll see in the video, and through third party research, that Dom is proving to be the MVP for Domino’s Pizza.

Back in June I wrote a post about the launch of Dom, the mobile virtual assistant that transformed the pizza-ordering experience for Domino’s Pizza customers. The speech-enabled mobile virtual assistant at the time was launched as a beta, and now that his trial period has officially ended, Domino’s has promoted Dom to full-time employee status. It turns out that Dom truly deserves his promotion: he’s delivered some incredible value to both pizza lovers and to Domino’s as well.

To find out what people thought about Dom, we conducted empirical third-party consumer research that revealed how transformational Dom really has been. Before I dive into the research results, have a quick look at this short video that had the same objective as the research – figure out what people thought about Dom – but in more of an unscientific, fun, man-on-the-street video taken at Union Square in San Francisco last month.

The reactions we caught on camera reflect the results uncovered in the consumer study, which was conducted by research firm Interaction Experience – people love Dom! First, unsurprisingly, Dom delivered a quantifiably more efficient experience that the tap screen interface. Consumers were able to complete their Pizza order on average 43% faster, and with 57% less steps with Dom than with the tap-screen. In addition, the research revealed a 33% improved Net Promoter Score (NPS) with Dom than with the tap screen. As those of you in the customer care sphere know, that is a very material positive impact that directly impacts customer loyalty and new customer acquisition. With all of this in mind, it’s not surprising that Dom got a promotion!

I don’t want to be infuriating with the age-old “I told you so” statement, but the fact is that these results are not a surprise to me. Back in August of 2013, I wrote a post about a consumer survey we commissioned that showcased that ordering pizza was a top use-case for which consumers saw virtual assistants as delivering a lot of value. Turns out that their intuition was right!

What about Domino’s? What do they think of Dom? Have a read through the press release they issued earlier today. I love how they are emphasizing the personality that Dom has. It reminds me of a statement that Dennis Maloney, VP of Digital Marketing at Domino’s, made at the Opus Intelligent Assistants Conference, an event that was held in San Francisco back in September. He mentioned that:

“Dom is a really fun character. He’s a representation of all of the people that work in our stores. Pizza should be fun, Dom is fun; it works really well from a branding standpoint.”

Domino’s clearly believes that Dom can be very impactful for their business. On Sunday, they launched a TV advertising campaign specifically focused on Dom. Have a look at one of the TV commercials that are dominating the airwaves these days:

Why would Domino’s make such a significant investment in marketing a capability within their mobile app, rather than their pizza? I would venture that it’s for the same reason that Tangerine launched a speech enabled mobile virtual assistant in their app (for more info, read the blog post about their launch that I shared last week). Domino’s, Tangerine and countless other organizations are realizing that the future of commerce is mobile. Whether you’re a bank, a pizza company or a retailer, your ability to capture new market share and build loyalty is predicated on how well your organization delivers a differentiated experience through mobile. Dom is fun; there is no doubt about that. But Dom should also be taken seriously; he’s transforming an industry after all. Check out the link below to learn how companies should rethink their strategy to embrace the mobile moments of their customers.

Let’s work together

About Brett Beranek

Like you, CX and biometrics expert Brett Beranek – Director Product Strategy, Enterprise – is fascinated by transformative technologies that have a real impact on our lives. With over fifteen years of experience in the customer experience and biometrics space, Brett brings strategic and tactical insights to organizations wishing to deliver a better experience to their customers via innovative security technologies.
Prior to joining Nuance, Brett a technologist and entrepreneur by education and passion, successfully introduced several disruptive technologies to the health-care, IT and security markets, including as a partner of facial recognition firm Viion Systems and member of Genetec’s management team, a security firm that transformed the video surveillance market. Brett also currently serves on the advisory board of high-tech healthcare startup GaitTronics.
Brett earned a Bachelor of Commerce, Information Systems Major, from McGill University as well as an Executive Marketing certificate from Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management.
Brett loves travelling the globe and discovering new cultures with his three kids, Layla, Rayan and Nora and his wife, Tania.